Private Hummingbird, Chocolate & Waterfalls Adventure, Mindo

Spend the day discovering Mindo and its cloud forest with this privately guided, family-friendly adventure. Start with visits to hummingbird and butterfly farms, where you can hand-feed the colorful creatures and learn why biodiversity flourishes in the region's lush, cool environs. You'll also stop by a local cacao maker to learn about the traditional chocolate-making process, hop aboard an open-air cable car to soar above the cloud forest canopy, and follow your guide on a gentle hike to hidden waterfalls.

Highlights

• Hand-feed irridescent hummingbirds at a local farm
• See rare and colorful butterflies like the blue morpho
• Taste handmade chocolates and meet a traditional cacao maker
• Spot birds and monkeys as you ride Mindo's open-air Tarabita cable car
• Hike along cloud forest trails and cool off in hidden waterfalls

What you'll do

This full-day exploration of Mindo begins when you meet your private guide and head to a hummingbird farm, where you can see some of the region's over 40 species up close and hand-feed them with cups of nectar. More colorful creatures are up next as you stop by a local garden, where you'll walk among fragrant flowers and hundreds of butterflies as you hear about the insects' remarkable life cycle—from caterpillar to chrysalis to winged adult. 

Continue to a traditional cacao maker, where your host will lead you through the bean-to-bar process (from roasting and grinding to the all-important taste test) as they explain what makes Ecuadorian cacao so prized. After a break for lunch (not included), it's time to venture deeper into the cloud forest with a ride on Mindo's iconic Tarabita. This open-air cable car soars above the forest canopy of the Bosque Protector Mindo Nambillo for over 17,000 feet (530 m), crossing a dramatic valley to reach a series of hiking trails and hidden waterfalls.

Follow your guide along a route customized to your ages and interests (you can choose to visit one or many of the area's seven waterfalls), and keep an eye out for the diverse flora and fauna in between—the 48,000-acre (19,420 ha) reserve is home to more than 500 species of birds and a remarkable variety of bromeliads, ferns, and heliconia. If conditions allow, you'll have plenty of time to cool off in the waterfall's natural pools (and snap memorable photos) before returning to town in the late afternoon.